O’Neal
continued to hold his lead with 4,534 votes to Democrat Clark Mitchell
Jr.’s 3,743. Libertarian Demo Agoris trailed with 135.

“I’m
really happy with the campaign we ran,” he said when addressing
supporters at Frankie I’s establishment in North Strabane. “We knocked
on nearly 8,000 doors."

O’Neal,
a veteran of the Afghanistan War who earned a “V” for valor and a
Bronze Star, advertised this in contrast to that of Mitchell, an
attorney, whom he portrayed playing the video game “Call of Duty.”...

“We’re
pretty proud of what we’ve done, and where we’re going to push forward
no matter what happens, win lose or draw, heading into November,” said
Mitchell from his campaign gathering at Washington Brewing Co.

Mitchell, with 3,071 votes, was
simultaneously leading Joseph Zupancic in the Democratic primary for a
two-year term. Zupancic had 1,258.

The Democratic primary results mean there will be rematch between O’Neal and Mitchell in the Nov. 6 general election.

O’Neal
had an uphill battle to garner a win in the Washington area that was
last represented by Republican Roger Raymond Fischer, who stepped aside
at the end of his long tenure in 1988 to become a Lutheran minister.

Asked a month ago
how he expected to get a different result from the same pool of voters
who overwhelmingly chose a Democrat, he replied, “I’ve knocked on 6,000
doors.” He had apparently added another 2,000 households during the
intervening weeks.

The
48th District includes South Strabane Township, home to both
major-party candidates; Canonsburg, North Strabane, Washington, East
Washington and North Franklin; and Chartiers and Houston, home of
Libertarian Agoris." Image of Washington County, Pa.